Painter Richard Brown Lethem has a need to create

Richard Brown Lethem will eventually admit he paints because he must, an oft-made comment by artists. But before he gets there the 70-something says so much more.

Jeanné McCartin

Richard Brown Lethem will eventually admit he paints because he must, an oft-made comment by artists. But before he gets there the 70-something says so much more.

He has drawn since 3 or 4, painted since 9, and given his avocation much thought along the way.

Lethem's never had "big commercial success;" always out of sync with the style du jour when exhibiting in New York, he says. "It wasn't a financial encouragement that kept me going." But the years saw very few periods away from painting, and those were short, and always included rendering. No matter how discouraged he'd become he'd return to his art; "because I needed to do it."

"It sounds like a therapeutic motivation, but it's something integral to my life; obviously I can't live without it. ...; It's the way I express myself, my spiritual and emotional life.

"And I think the thing that is critical to most artists, and to my own experience, is being able to connect and get in touch with the subconscious. It's the subconscious life that never lies. It's very truthful," says Lethem. "We have that ability as children and often lose it as adults. ... When deeply involved with painting there is this ability to lose oneself and get in touch with that — the subconscious life."

There is also his love for the "involvement with the material" itself, discovered at 9 when his sister gifted him his first set of oils. "(It was pretty transformative)."

Lethem, (now from Berwick, Maine, "between the north and south)," grew up in the Midwest. Those years greatly affected his work, he says.

First there were two rural towns (read farm country) in Missouri and Nebraska, later a larger one in Iowa, which offered museums and art guilds, which brought greater exposure.

But it's largely the farms and animals, as well as the humans that influence subject and motive.

"Most of the paintings in the last few years involve humans and animals interacting — the symbiotic relationships of animals to humans," he says.

His parents were from an era when horses were the mode of transportation, "and I was very much exposed to their connection to horses." There was also the relationship between man and farm animal and "all animals," he adds.

"I've been trying to express the relationships, the vulnerability of the human condition and its dependency on relationship to the space around us and the animal life we share that environment with."

While sure of his intent, his style eludes him. German Expressionism has had the greatest influence, but beyond that style remains a mystery. He'll leave the labels to others to decide.

"Primarily, in formal terms, I'm looking at the expressive potential of color, to express emotional movement and qualities."

Over the years Lethem has taught, and continues with a single advanced painting class for Southern Maine University, Gorham. But most of his time is spent in one of the small barns where his studio is located, on his property, a former dairy farm. He thinks about what it is that keeps him there when so many of his talented students drift from the field.

Perhaps it's the support he received in the more formative years, he ponders, glazing over his drive to connect to something deeper in himself and the world — that which can never be taught.

And while he's not had financial success, he's certainly made a mark. Lethem has participated in numerous exhibitions, including 25 solo. His awards include a Ludwig Vogelstein Foundation Grant, Hillwood Museum Residencies Grant, and a Fulbright Fellowship.

Lethem also paints humorous works; a few examples are in his current show. He recently completed a series on children's games that fall into that category, which he hopes to exhibit down the line.

For now, the current show at the George Marshall is going well, the best he's ever had sales-wise, he says. Ten have sold. "But, that's not the motivating factor," he restates. "What's important is love, family friends and the work you really care about. ...; And painting is just the way I express myself."

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